Caesarstone – Otzar Rebuttal

Viceroy find Otzar Capital’s ties to one of Israel’s larger investment relations & public relations groups concerning, especially considering the potential connections between the IR/PR and Otzar’s reports. We have provided a portfolio of evidence in this regard to the SEC.

Viceroy have concerns that the Investors may have entered into such investments with what appears to be a lack of disclosure.

Otzar had to go all the way to suburban Miami to meet a Lowe’s retailer that sold Caesarstone’s transform. Congratulations, you got us.

Otzar’s most convincing arguments: our misuse of Cosentino’s major subsidiary vs the consolidated group accounts (which we are still unable to verify but will give the benefit of the doubt) adds to our thesis. Competitor margins in the consolidated numbers presented by Otzar are even smaller than Viceroy’s previous figures, making Caesarstone’s margins even more outrageous and enforcing our belief that Caesarstone’s costs are understated.

Otzar’s management and supplier derived volume calculations imply that either resellers are operating on ~300% mark-ups or Caesarstone’s facilities are producing well below capacity, yet amazingly they look to be correct! If this is the case, why build more lines?